Recently, President Biden has spoken of E 15 ethanol in easing the price of gas. Is E 15 ethanol safe for all engines, whether new or old? I currently use 87 octane in all my vehicles which consists of I believe 10% Ethanol whereas E 15 has 15% Ethanol content. There are various opinions as to usage in damaging the fuel system. All replies to the above information is appreciated.

 

Ethanol is damaging to rubber components of the fuel systems on cars made before 1990 or so.
Older cars can be "converted" to use ethanol by re-building the carb and fuel pump with ethanol resistant kits.
The rubber lines between the carb and gas tank should also be replaced with modern ethanol resistant hoses.
The 5 percent difference isn't going to make any difference.
If your vehicles ran fine on E10 , they should run OK on E15.

 

I don't know. After all the doom and gloom of E10, we've been safely running it for around 15 years. I recently moved to Oklahoma where they still sell ethanol free in the 87 and 91 octane flavors, I'll assume that will continue.

 

The more it's driven the lesser the effect as it will wick in more moisture the longer it sits. I'd try to source pure gas if the car will be put in winter or long term hibernation i.e., over 6 months. Others may chime in saying it won't cause any problems but I've personally seen it several times. IMO how much it affects you depends upon your climate in relation to temperature swings and humidity. Another factor is the age of the car and whether or not the fuel system is closed or vented to the atmosphere.

What are you driving, year and model?

 

E15 will completely implode your classic Oldsmobile, leaving no other option than buying a gubment subsidized electric people mover.

 

It depends - most newer carb rebuild kits that are high quality have been using ethanol-resistant materials. However, it does tend to be less stable than pure gas, so you'll won't want it sitting as long. If you have gunk in your tank or system, the ethanol will tend to dissolve it and clean it out. If your fuel hoses are newer, they should be ethanol-resistant.

Ethanol really needs to run richer than pure gas, so you may want to consider jetting up for the power step. It's oxygenated so it can help power output but you gotta jet up to take advantage of it. I tend to run the primaries on my q-jet lean enough to the point it will start to lean skip when cruising in really cold air (30*). I seem to notice the skipping more if I have pump gas in the tank compared to running straight race fuel.

 

Ethanol has lower energy content than does gasoline. Unless you change the jetting in the carb, higher ethanol content will make your engine run dangerously lean, leading to overheating, preignition, and possibly severe internal damage. E10 is marginal in older cars, E15 is not adviseable unless you alter the engine to suit it. Modern EFI systems have sensors that will adjust air/fuel ratio based on ethanol content (which is why you can run up to E85 in some of them). Also, since ethanol has lower energy content, fuel mileage drops with ethanol content. And no, I have not even begun to address the materials compatibility issues.

 

1.) 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham 5.0 Liter (307 c.i.).
2.) 2013 Dodge Challenger SXT Plus 3.6 Liter D.O.H.C.
Both are running on 87 octane.

 

Thanks Joe. Will the E15 be posted at the pumps? I would like to continue in the gasoline I'm using. Never really pay attention to the stipulations posted at the pump, rather just looking at the octane rating. Now, I'll pay close attention.

 

If you recall we went through this in the mid 2000's when crude peaked around $150/bbl. Corn has very high fertilizer demand, and with fertilizer prices going through the roof (The nitrogen component of fertilizer consumes a ton of natural gas). a lot of farmers are already switching over to soybeans, which have lower fertilizer demand.
Burning your food does not make much sense to me.

 

Pumps are required to have a sticker that looks like this.

 

Quote:

Senior Biden administration officials said the action will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon based on current prices, but at just 2,300 gas stations out of the nation’s more than 100,000. The affected stations are mostly in the Midwest and the South, including Texas, according to industry groups.

So only 2.3% of the nation's gas stations will have E-15 for sale. And those stations are mainly located in Texas, the Midwest, and the South so I think you're safe up there in RI.

 

The entire automotive interwebs is in a tizzy over this, and frankly not one of them has actually read the articles, just the headlines. From today's Washington Post:




All this change is doing is allowing stations that already carry E15 to sell it in the summer when they previously could not. It doesn't change the E10 that most stations sell now. It doesn't require anyone to sell E15. It just provides an option.

 

One advantage of ethanol gas is the much higher octane rating. You can use that octane rating to your advantage to offset the lower energy content of ethanol gasoline. An engine with 11 to one compression will be more efficient than one at 8 to 1, all things being equal.

As Joe mentioned, things AREN'T equal. You need to calibrate the carb to use ethanol gas. I’m not sure if a Q-Jet can be calibrated to use the ethanol stuff, and once it’s modified I’m betting there is no going back.


I seriously considered setting up my car to use E85 when it first became somewhat common. At the time, it was much cheaper than pump gas. Of course, it didn’t take the government long to realize the loss revenue from E85, they quickly added taxes and fees to offset most of the cost savings. I would not be the least bit surprised if the same thing happens with any alternative fuel.

 

I'm very happy I will be moving to a state where a station sells ethanol free gas right down on the corner. Good bye E-10, E-15, E-85 whatever. And good riddance to killing 2 of my carbs that couldn't handle it. I ain't lookin' back

 

You mean that the sky isn't actually falling?!

 

I'm glad OK sells the 100% gas. That's what I use in my 71 and all of my lawn equipment. Government BS aside, E10/E15 has got to be better than tetraethyl lead or MTBEs as a gasoline additive.

 

You don't really need too much of a change for E-10.
One or two sizes larger on the jets or rods is all that's really needed for max efficacy.
E-85 is a different ballgame, requiring a much more radical change to the metering system.

As far as going back, just keep the old rods and jets and put them back in.